A masterful review of the decisive influence of the global Cold War on the economic reforms of the Soviet Union and the ensuing national decline. What brought down the Soviet Union? From some perspectives, the answers seem obvious, even teleological—communism was simply destined to fail. When Yakov Feygin studied the question, he reached another conclusion: at least one critical factor was a deep contradiction within the Soviet Union's political economy, stemming from the country's attempt to transition from Stalinist mass mobilization to a consumer society.

Building a Ruin explores what happened in the Soviet Union as the institutions designed for wartime capability and maximum heavy industry production were revolutionized by a new generation of reformers, who focused on "peaceful socioeconomic competition." From Khrushchev onwards, the influential schools of Soviet planning measured Cold War success by the same terms as their Western counterparts: productivity, growth, and the availability of plentiful and diverse consumer goods.

This change was both material and spiritual, with the reformers adopting a modernist approach to the economy. Instead of proclaiming their ideological beliefs and exploiting their relations with party leaders, the new economists emphasized technical expertise. The result was a prolonged and painful struggle for the meaning of communism itself, as the old established administrative groups clashed with the reformers over the future of central planning and the relationship of the state economy with the global economic order.

Feygin argues that Soviet politicians never resolved these tensions, leading to stagnation, instability, and eventual collapse. However, the legacy of reform remains, with its factional dynamics haunting contemporary Russian politics.

Pages: 288, Year of Publication: 0909, Dimensions: 15.6x15.6cm